Wednesday, October 29, 2014

The DIY farmhouse table I didn’t DIY

We’ve needed a new kitchen table for probably 2 years now. Our previous one lived a great life (you can see it HERE if you so desire, as well as our mid-renovation kitchen), and it filled our needs for a good long time. But it was getting too small for our needs (we always had to pull up stools and try to cram people in when we invited friends for dinner, and it was nearly impossible to host any sort of get-together of any size), and the table was really starting to show its age (and not in a cute rustic way, just a low-quality table getting old and falling apart way).

I’ve wanted a farmhouse table for a long, loooong time, and the internet abounds with fantastic tutorials and detailed instructions for building them. There’s just one problem.

We are terrible at building things. Really, deeply terrible. Some day, just for kicks, I need to post the ‘craft table’ Jeff built for me in our basement. You will laugh and cry so hard that you’ll need to head to the hospital for an IV to replenish your fluid loss, I swear it. But that’s a post for another day.

Jeff very kindly offered to try and build me a table, but I was concerned that we would spend all the money for the necessary materials and tools, spend a few weekends working on it, and still come out at the end of it without a nice-looking, usable table. (He has a lot of great talents! But building things is absolutely not one of them.) So I saved my pennies and hoped I’d be able to find one someday at a decent price.

I kept my eye out for farmhouse tables on our local classifieds site and on the Facebook yard sale groups I’m a member of, and although a few occasionally popped up, they were usually way too big for my dining area (which isn’t enormous), or priced much higher than I was willing to pay. Finally, fortune struck: someone in one of the FB groups I’m a member of asked for bids on building a farmhouse table, and among the responses was a lady whose own FB business page was full of fantastic farmhouse-style furniture. I contacted her, her prices were very reasonable, and I hired her to build a table and bench for me.

She did a beautiful job.

This is one DIY project I am so glad I didn’t attempt myself. I think I would have been miserable during the entire process, and there aren’t enough fingers and toes to tally up the number of arguments Jeff and I would have had if we’d tried to work together on something like this. It came out exactly how I pictured it (I am in love with the two-tone look!), it fits perfectly in our dining space (at 6 feet long, it isn’t outrageously big and doesn’t dominate the kitchen, but easily seats 6-8 people), and I am so very glad I didn’t try to do it myself. I love how it fits into the style of our kitchen. I call it ‘modern farmhouse.’ I don’t know if this is really a thing. Just roll with it.

I’m so happy with how our kitchen is coming together. I’m crazy about how light and bright and fresh it feels. And that killer sign above the bay window? Now that’s the scope of project I can handle. An entire table? No. But a vintage-looking ‘groceries’ sign? Check. I whipped it up a few nights ago, and have been gazing lovingly at it ever since. I’ll post instructions for it later this week.

For those of you who are local to Utah County, the table and bench were built by Brandi of Eternal Harvest Home Décor, and you can find her Facebook page HERE. I think she did a wonderful job, and I’m thrilled with my new table. I thought her prices were great, and she was a pleasure to work with also. (And for the record, this post isn’t compensated in any way. Brandi didn’t know I’d be posting about her, I paid her full, normal prices for my items, and we have no connection other than as Awesome Table Builder and humble building-talentless customer.)

I really love how the table turned out! We have the same issue- my hubby is handy but somehow things don't always turn out the way I imagined them. ;) Great idea to have someone make a table for you! Your kitchen/dining area looks so bright and fresh compared to the before. You guys have done great work!